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ADDKESS 



ON 



THE NORTHWEST 



BEFORE THE 



^ma'itaii ditojrap^ka! nnb Stetistkal Soxietn, 



DEfJVERED AT NEW YORK, DECEMBER 2, 1858, 



ISAAC I STEVENS, 



J 



WASHINGTON: 

G. S. GIDEON, PRINTER. 
1858. 






(l>o-^ 



ADDRESS. 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the 

American Geographical and Statistical Society: 

Ladies and Gentlemen : The northwest portion of the 
American Continent has of late, and is now. attracting 
much attention. It has hitherto, except a portion of our 
own domain, been considered only a great hunting field, 
rich in furs, and capable of furnishing wealth and influence 
to a trading establishment. The history of this domain, 
though meagre, is interesting. The coast was explored 
in the latter part of the last century by American, English 
and Spanish navigators. A Boston shipmaster gave name 
to the Columbia river and to Gray's harbor, between that 
point and Cape Flattery. A Spanish navigator gave name 
to the Straits de Fuca, and other points in the vicinity; 
and British navigators gave name to Vancover's island, 
and to other points of the adjacent waters and coasts. 

Although two centuries since the Jesuit missionaries 
penetrated to the Northwest from the Mississippi, it was 
not till towards the close of the last century that the North- 
west Company and the Hudson's Bay Company pushed their 
explorations to the frozen ocean and to the Pacific, in about 
parallel 52. 

About this time they established posts over all this ex- 
tensive country. The explorations of Lewis and Clark at 
an early part of the present century, made known to us the 
two great rivers across the continent — the Missouri and the 
Columbia — and the general eliaracter of the country. They 



were soon followed by the American trappers and traders, 
who planted establishments to, and beyond, the Rocky 
mountains. 

The efforts of John Jacob Astor to found a great trading 
establishment on the Columbia, and to make tributary to 
it the whole western slope, by a system of posts, through 
misfortunes of various kinds, failed, and the whole of that 
country, as well as the country northward to Hudson's bay, 
and stretching from the Pacific to the great lakes, came 
under the control of aforeic/n company. Thus, so far as 
concerned the agencies at work to develop the country, 
the American people had control simply of the portion 
east of the Eocky mountains, and another jurisdiction, 
acting through a company whose interest it was to keep 
the country a desert, to keep it in a condition in which it 
would be remunerative in its furs, had control of the entire 
remaining portion of that country. 

I will in this connection refer to the treaty of 1846, by 
which a line was established between the two countries, 
and to a remark made about, or previous to, that time in 
the British Parliament, to the effect that so great was tlie 
distance from the American settlements to the Pacific, and 
so serious were the difficulties to be encountered, that it was 
idle and preposterous to suppose the American States could 
colonize the Pacific coast. At the very time this confident 
assertion Avas being made, our emigrant wagons were mov- 
ing over those mountains, and that same fall American 
citizens had carved out their homes on the shores of the 
Pacific ocean, and raised above them the stars and stripes 
of their country's power. The fact thereby became estab- 
lished, that that western coast was ours by the natural pro- 
cess of colonization, and that American genius and enter- 
prise could scale the Rocky mountains and overcome every 
difiiculty lying between tlie valley of the Mississippi and 
the Western ocean. From that time the way was thronged 
with the emigrant wagons of our pcoj)lc. wlio went on tlie 



long distant journey with their women and their children. 
From that time did that country become known to us as a 
civilized community; as a community of families; as a com- 
munity which would have a great part yet to play in the 
destinies of the country and of the world. 

Time rolled on; California was acquired, and its immense 
mineral riches became known. Oregon, which had been 
healthfully and rapidly settling, became stationary. Many 
of her people went to California to dig for gold. Emigra- 
tion Avas turned overland to California, and she became a 
great centre of attraction, not only to the people of the 
States, but to the people of other countries. This station- 
ary condition of Oregon, however, continued but for two 
or three years, and then she greatly increased in popula- 
tion. Gold was found in Southern Oregon, and large num- 
bers of miners found remunerative employment there. The 
northern portion of Oregon was organized into a separate 
Territory, the Territory of Washington. 

Within the last four or five years rumors had spread 
abroad that gold was to be found in Washington and in 
the British possessions to the north. The country was 
more or less prospected in each j^ear, and this year we find 
its mineral wealth is attracting the attention of the civil- 
ized world. We find that both in Washington and in 
British Columbia, facts exist, which establish the extent 
and richness of their gold diggings. 

This seems therefore to be an opportune moment for 
presenting in a careful and deliberate manner the geog- 
raphy, resources, and ultimate development of that entire 
region. 

This is the object which I propose by my address of this 
evening. I shall endeavor to do this with all the dis- 
passionate judgment that I can command. My purpose is 
not as the partisan, to set forth the advantages of a par- 
ticular section of country, but to present that section fairly 
and candidly, both in its relation to the countries north 



and south, and the great connections east and west. To 
facilitate the investigation of this whole subject, I have 
had prepared a map on a large scale, giving the entire 
northern portion of the continent from the parallel of vSan 
Francisco and Washington city to Hudson's bay. On this 
map I have exhibited the mountain ranges, the great navi- 
gable streams, the practicable passes and the principal 
prairie regions. Looking on that map, your attention is 
arrested first by the great mountain chain from which flow 
waters to either ocean. Following those waters, you ob- 
serve great rivers having long, distant courses before they 
reach the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson's bay, the Frozen ocean, 
and the Pacific ocean. Observe especially those two great 
rivers, the Missouri and the Columbia; follow them up to 
their upper tributaries, and you will find that they inter- 
lock in the very heart of the Rocky mountains. You will 
find that from the head of steamboat navigation of the 
one river, to the head of steamboat navigation on the other, 
the distance is but inconsiderable coni})ared with the entire 
distance across the continent. There is Fort Benton, 2,415 
miles above St. Louis. To this point you can take steamers 
seven months in the year, carrying 150 tons of freight, and 
here at the mouth of the Palouse, on the great southern 
tributary of the Columbia, Snake river, you come again 
to waters navigable by steamers. The distance from the 
liead of steamboat navigation on the Missouri, to the head 
of steamboat navigation on the Columbia, is but 450 
miles. 

There arc othei' streams, second only in importance to 
the Missouri. The two branches of the Saskatchawan, that 
have their sources also in the Rocky mountains, north ol' 
the Missouri, stretch a great distance eastward to Lake 
Winnipeg, and find their way northward into Hudson's 
bay. Thoy connect also with the main Columbia itself, 
affording transit for passengers and freight many months 
of the year: and llius the Columbia river and the two 



branches of the Saskatchawau liave been the great line.s ot 
travel of the Hudson's Bay Company. It is through that 
country they have established their many posts. I propose 
in this connection simply to refer to these streams geograph- 
ically. In another part of my address I shall refer to them 
more as avenues of travel and of commerce. 

The Mississippi has also its source in this region, fur- 
nishing with its tributaries a long course of waters naviga- 
ble by steamers, and affording a very close connection both 
with Lake Superior and the Red river of the north; and 
the Red river of the north, flowing northward, and in a 
direction opposite to that of the Mississippi, is also navi- 
gable within our own borders several hundred miles for 
steamers, and makes the connection between our own 
system of rivers and those which flow into Lake Winnepig 
and Hudson's bay. 

But the great feature of the northern portion of the 
American continent is the water line of the great lakes , 
which stretch more than half way across from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific; a fact of deep significance, when we con- 
sider that vessels, without breaking bulk, can pass thence 
to Europe, either by the Canadian canals and the St. 
Lawrence, or by the New York canals and the Hudson. 

Thus, then, we find that the country which we are de- 
scribing, geographically, is one of great natural water 
lines across the continent — the great lakes, the Missis- 
sippi, the Red river of the north, the Missouri, the two 
branches of the Saskatchawau, and the Columbia. If 
we look to the extreme southern portion of the country 
under consideration, we find it deficient in navigable 
streams. After leaving the Missouri, its tributaries in the 
vicinity of the route, the Kansas, the Platte, and the Run- 
ning Water, are unnavigable ; and we do not come to navi- 
gable streams again until we have crossed the Sierra Ne- 
vada, and gone far down into the valley of the Sacra- 
mento. 



1 ncH'd not rel'er pmticularly to llic niduntahi eliaiiis 
which characterize this country — the tSierra Nevada of 
California, and the Cascade mountains of Oregon and 
Washington, stretching far to the northward : the Rocky 
Mountain chain, liaving a vast extension in the parallel of 
8an Francisco and Washington city, and to the northward 
of the South Pass, and then greatly diminishing in breadth 
still further north, until it passes beyond the 49th parallel 
into the British possessions. Again, there are, intermediate 
between these two great chains, many subsidiary chains, 
branching off from the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and 
the Eocky mountains, which need not be more specifically 
referred to. 

Another peculiarity of the country of the Missouri and 
the Columbia is, that on the eastern slope the prairie region 
extends to the very base of the Rocky mountains. On and 
northward of the railroad line, from Fort Union along the 
valley of Milk river to Fort Benton, there are no upheavals, 
with the single exception of the Three Buttcs, which rise out 
of the prairie just under the 49th parallel, three thousand 
feet high, about 100 miles eastward of the Rocky moun- 
tains. 

If you look to the Rocky Mountain region, between the 
46th and 49th parallels, you will find that it is essentially 
a country of prairies. West of the Bitter Root chain of 
mountains, a great plain stretches to the Cascade moun- 
tains, on the west, and from the 48th to below the 46th 
parallel. This prairie region is, for the most part, well 
watered, well grassed, and furnishes a large portion of 
arable land. 

One other feature remains to be considered in the geo- 
graphy of this country, and that is, the two great ports on 
this coast, San Francisco and Puget's sound. San Fran- 
cisco is the great port of California, and must ever be a 
great key-point of business and commerce. But Puget's 
sound is admitted by all naval and military gentlemen 



who ever visited its waters, to be the most remarkable road- 
stead on the shores of any ocean. It has 1,600 miles of 
shore-line and great numbers of land-locked, commodious, 
and defensible harbors. It can be entered bv any wind, is 
scarcely ever obstructed by fog, and is the nearest point to 
the great ports of Asia of any harbor on our western 
coast. 

With this brief statement of the geography, I will now 
consider the resources of this country ; and at this stage of 
the proceeding, I am reminded of the discussions, which 
have occurred within twenty years, in which that country 
has been pronounced an inhospitable, cold, and barren 
country, fit only for Indians, wild beasts, and hunters. 
Why, sir, the climate of Puget's sound is milder than that 
of New York. You never find ice on its surface, or snow 
for more than a few days at a time on its shores ; and our 
good friends in San Francisco have to go north to the 
Russian possessions to get ice. The resources of Puget's 
sound and the country on the Columbia river and on the 
Willamette are literally inexhaustible. The whole coun- 
try in either territory west of the Cascade mountains has, 
for the most part, a fertile soil, a climate so mild through 
the winter that cattle do not require fodder, and seed can 
be sown from September to March ; and then we have the 
glorious summers, which enable us to gather our crops 
without fear that they will be injured by rain. The forests 
on Puget's sound are a great source of wealth. At this 
time there are on that sound nine large steam-mills and 
many water-mills in operation, manufacturing lumber, and 
several large spar establishments. Seventy-five millions 
of lumber are now manufactured a year, more than half 
of which is sent to foreign ports. Spars are not only sent 
to Asia, the Sandwich Islands, and Australia, but to the 
navies of France and England ; and they have been pro- 
nounced by the inspectors to be the best spars they ever 
2 



10 

saw ; and yet tlie lumber and spar business is in its in- 
fancy. 

Within one mile of the shores of Puget's sound, there is 
more timber than can be found on all the tributaries of all 
the waters of the State of Maine. 

On the coast there are extensive fisheries of cod and 
halibut, which stretch from the mouth of the Columbia 
river to beyond Vancouver's island. 

This i^ortion of our coast also abounds in whales, and a 
single little tribe of Indians^ the Macaws, at Cape Flat- 
tery, with their rude means, have produced 30,000 gal- 
lons of oil in a single year. 

On the eastern shores of the sound, and on the Straits 
de Fuca, there is coal which has been pronounced by ex- 
perts to be adapted to river steamers, and the opinion has 
been ventured that it will answer for ocean steamers, 
though this has not been tested. 

The country also abounds in water-power near to navi- 
gable Avaters, with all the conveniences to apply it to manu- 
facturing and mechanical purposes with economy and 
success. 

From the Cascade mountains to the Eocky mountains 
there is a vast pastoral and agricultural region. 

Looking on this map I point out to you the Yakima 
country, admitted by all to be a good grazing country. 
In the portion immediately north of the Columbia, there 
is a single tract of 2,000 square miles of arable land. 

I will take you to the Walla-Walla valley, whicli, from 
this height, (near Wild-horse creek,) presents as pleasant 
a landscape as one's eyes ever beheld. Here is this beautiful 
valley before you, its streams lined with cottonwood, the 
neighboring mountain spurs covered with pine, giving you 
the most delightful picture of what it will be, when it be- 
comes settled and occupied. You can see in imagination 
cities and villages along these streams, the village school 
and the chnreh -spire. Nearly the whole of this country, 



11 

between these mountains and Snake river, is an arable 
country, and nearly one half of it is adapted to small farms. 
This valley, or rather re-entering of Snake river, is the 
great key of our interior, and can subsist a farming popu- 
lation of 100,000 souls. 

The country west of the Bitter Root, and north of Snake 
river, and thence extending westward nearly to the meridian, 
passing through the mouth of the Palouse, has a fertile 
soil, adapted to wheat, cereals, and vegetables. As regards 
the portion west of this meridian, it is somewhat affected 
by drought, and is more of a grazing than an agricultural 
country. On the line of the Columbia, on the shores of 
many of the streams and lakes, and in many intervening 
swales and valleys, tracts will be found where there is 
land enough to supply the grazing population, which that 
country is able to support. 

The country north of the Spokane, and thence to the 
49th parallel, is wooded, and a very considerable portion 
of it is arable. The Bitter Root mountains are covered 
with heavy timber — pine and fir, and larch and cedar. I 
do not wish to be thought to speak as a sanguine man, 
when I dwell on this country between the Bitter Root and 
the Rocky mountains, known as the Flathead country. 
If you look to the isothermal lines which are drawn on 
this map, you will see that there is nothing in the con- 
dition of the temperature to prevent the raising of crops. 
But we have the practical experience of the few settlers, 
and of the Jesuit missionaries in that country, to estab- 
lish the fact both of the certainty and of the goodness 
of the crops. I estimate that in the Flathead country, 
and along the eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains, 
the amount of arable land is at least one-third of the 
whole, and that it will be found to exceed 12,000 square 
miles. The country from the Rocky mountains to the 
great rivers running to the Gulf of Mexico and Hud- 
son's bay — I refer to the country stretching to the great 



12 

lakes, the Upper Mississippi, and Lake Winnipeg, and 
watered by the Upper Missouri and its tributaries, by the 
two branches of the Saskatchawan and the Ked river of the 
north — is adapted for the most part to settlement and 
civilization. It is not simply a grazing country, but all 
through it are large bodies of arable land, that entitle it to 
the distinction of being considered an agricultural country. 

In my judgment, the time will come when there will be 
agricultural settlements throughout the whole extent of 
this country, from the Mississippi to the shores of the 
Pacific, simply excepting limited extents of country along 
the higher part of the mountain chains, and in some of 
the prairie regions, to be referred to more particularly 
hereafter. As illustrative of the capacity of this country, 
I beg to refer to a few facts. The Indians of Washington 
Territory and Oregon, east of the Cascade mountains, are 
rich in horses and cattle, the former of which have been 
introduced within a hundred, and the latter within thirty 
years. Their wealth perhaps is not equalled by any 
civilized community on this continent. Indians among 
those tribes own from 1,000 to 4,000 head of horses and 
cattle each. The Spokanes and Flathead nation have 
many horses and cattle, wliich range the winter long 
without fodder, and, as I know from personal observation, 
they do not shrink away but very little in flesh. Never 
have I seen fatter beef than the Indian cattle, in the Walla- 
Walla, in January. At Fort Benton and Fort Union, 
where there are large numbers of horses and cattle, they 
retain their flesh all winter without fodder. 

We now come to the development of this great portion of 
our country, which I shall consider both as regards the 
agencies actually at work now to develop the region, and 
the measures which should be adopted looking to the ad- 
vancement and prosperity of the whole country. Much 
has been already done. The country has been explored by 
order of the government. A commencement has been 



13 

made in surveying the public lands. Some progress lias 
been made in negotiating treaties with the Indian tribes, 
and those same Indian tribes have recently been shown a 
memorable instance of the power and the determination of 
the government, to protect the lives of its citizens. The 
surveys have enabled me to speak with certainty of the 
resources of the country, and they will enable me to speak 
with some confidence as to other measures which ought to 
be undertaken to develop that country, looking always to 
the honor and renown of all these United States. 

The discovery of gold in British Columbia has developed . 
on the part of the British people, an earnest persistent de- 
termination to establish communications across the conti- 
nent to bind into one union all its North American posses- 
sions. It is an object worthy the power and enterprise and 
the prestige of the British government, and I thank God 
that there is not an impulse of my soul, which Avould cause 
me to feel any uneasiness or any jealousy at the success of 
such an undertaking. Here we are, two great powers, 
speaking the same tongue, and let us look upon it as a 
friendly race for supremacy. Let us see which, in this 
friendly race, will outstrip the other — which shall be the 
carriers of the commerce of the world. 

Gentlemen, the time has passed for men seriously to dis- 
cuss the question as to whether the wants of commerce, 
the duties and responsibilities of government, the fulfill- 
ing the relations of social and domestic life, do not demand a 
secure and rapid transit from ocean to ocean. The question 
simply is, is it practicable to establish great lines of travel 
from the water line of the great lakes to our magnificent 
Puget's sound, that port which is the nearest of all our 
ports to Asia? Again the question is, do not great national 
interests urge the accomplishment of this enterprise at 
the earliest possible moment? It is not whether such an 
undertaking will inure to the benefit of Puget's sound or the 
people of the great lakes, but whether this is not a project 



14 

upon which rests the question, as to whether the great car- 
rying trade from Asia to Europe shall pass over American 
or British soil; whether upon the success of this undertak- 
ing does not rest the question, whether the key of the 
Northern Pacific shall he in the hands of the American 
people or in the hands of the subjects of a foreign power. It 
seems to me that not New York, or Boston, or Portland, is 
alone interested, but every part of our Atlantic and Gulf 
coast, and the entire country. 

And, Mr. President, if it be a practicable undertaking to 
build this road and establish this route, it is the duty of our 
government and of our people to push it forward . It ceases 
to be sectional and geographical and partisan, and it rises 
into a noble and elevated nationality, to which all hearts 
should yield. I propose to discuss this question in the 
light of the practical experience, developed in the prose- 
cution of great railroad enterprises, in regard to which 
the facts stand out in letters of gold. 

The first question which I shall consider is, the objec- 
tions urged against the northern route in consequence of 
the severity of the climate and the excessive depth of the 
snows, and I regret to be obliged to waste time on a 
matter which has long since been established. But it is 
still called in question by men of intelligence, and has 
even place in official reports. 

In an examination of that country, which I made in the 
years 1853-'4-'5, I deemed it a fundamental and essen- 
tial fact to be determined, and it Avas determined in a 
manner that will enable me to speak positively. The 
passes of the Rocky mountains. Hell Gate, Northern Little 
Blackfoot, and Cadet's Pass wci'e crossed by my parties in 
the months of December, January, February and March, 
in the years 18o3-'4, anil in no one of these passes did 
they find more than fifteen inches of snow. In the win- 
ter of 1854-'5, the Flathead Indians passed through these 
passes in January, February, and March; whole tribes, 



15 

with their women and ehiUlren, and their pack animals 
laden down wdth furs and meat. I Avas informed by Vic- 
tor, head chief of the Flathead nation, an Indian whose 
valor and courtesy and truth have become classic in the 
pages of the Jesuit Missionary de Smet — ^by Victor, who 
at seventy-five is still the leader of his people in war, and 
first in the chase of the buffalo, that since the memory of 
the Indian, they had passed these mountains year after 
year through the winter months. That same winter, the 
party that crossed the Kocky mountains in January, went 
down Clark's Fork in February; they went on horseback, 
the sole trouble being that there were some places where 
the snow was deep enough to cover up the grass; but in 
these cases it was in the wooded portions, and 2| feet was 
the greatest depth. 

When they left the wooded region where it w^as 2i feet 
deep, and came to the prairie region, they found that it 
was but a foot deep. Every gentleman knows what influ- 
ence forests have in preserving the depth of the snow, and 
how it disappears when the land is cleared. The question is 
not what depth the snow is in the forests, but wdiat it will 
be on the cleared land. There is one point alone about 
which we have not sufficient information, and that is, the 
crossing of the Cascade mountains to Puget's sound; but I 
am satisfied that there will be no serious obstruction from 
snow. The snow was but six feet, for a short distance, 
in the latter part of January, 1856, and I am of opinion 
that it did not subsequently increase much in depth, 
though this fact has not been determined by actual ad- 
measurement. At Fort Benton and Fort Cami3bell, ever 
since they were established some twenty -five years since, 
the fur companies have taken their goods to their winter 
trading posts, on the Milk and Marias rivers, in wagons, 
there not being snow enough for sleds. Will the snows of 
this route, which do not prevent the Indians from travel- 



ling, IViruisii any diHicnlties wliich will render it unusually 
troublesome for the passage of railroad cars? 

I will now consider the question of the cold. It is al- 
leged, that the weather is so cold on the route of the 47th 
parallel, that it wall be impracticable to work men in the 
construction of the road for a large portion of the year, and 
that it will be impracticable to run cars for man}- days in 
the winter. 

Unfortunately for these opinions, we happen to have 
observations on these points, and to have great lines of 
railroad in operation over tracts of country as cold, and 
even colder than the route from Fort Benton to the shores 
of the Pacific. The mean winter temperature at Fort Ben- 
ton in '53-'54 was 25°. 38, above zero. The average at 
Montreal, on the Grand Trunk railroad, for the same year, 
was 13°. 22, and for a mean often years 17°. 80, above zero. 
At Quebec it was, in '53-'54, 11°. 03, above zero, and for a 
mean of 10 years 13°. 30, above zero. On the great Rus- 
sian railroad, from St. Petersburg to Moscow, the compari- 
son is very similar. The mean winter temperature for a 
series of twenty-one years at Moscow is 15°. 20, and at St. 
Petersburg, for a mean of twenty-fi.ve years, 18°. 10, abo-ve 
zero. 

At Fort Snelling, on the great lines through Minnesota 
from St. Paul to Pembina, and from St. Paul to Brecken- 
ridge, now actually in process of construction, the mean 
winter temperature of '53-' 54 was 11°. G4, and the mean of 
thirty-five winters 16°. 10, above zero. Thus in the winter 
of '53-' 54, an unusually cold winter, Fort Benton was 12° 
warmer than Montreal, 14° warmer than Quebec, 14° 
warmer than Fort Snelling, 10° warmer than Moscow, and 
7° warmer than St. Petersburg,. Looking to the Bitter 
Root valley, we find its average temperature in the winter of 
'53-'54 to be 24°. 90, and in '54-'55, 30°. 30 above zero, 
making it for the two winters respectively 10° and 15° 
warmer than at Moscow, and 7° and 12° warmer than at St. 



IT 

Petersburg. In 1853-'4 it was 12° warmer than at Mon- 
treal, and 14° warmer than at Quebec. But I will not 
content myself with giving you the average winter temper- 
atures: let us consider the greatest cold observed. The 
greatest cold in the winter of '53-' 54 was 29° below zero 
at Cantonment Stevens. At Fort Snelling it was 36°, at 
Montreal 34°, and at Quebec 29°, below zero, from which 
you will see, that on this route, the greatest cold is not equal 
to the greatest cold on the route of the Grand Trunk rail- 
road of Canada. The same fact is unquestionably true of 
the great artery of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg, 
but I have not been able to obtain the daily observations 
for purposes of comparison. We will look at it in another 
point of view. Take the number of cold days when the av- 
erage temperature was below zero. The average tempera- 
ture was below zero twelve days at Fort Benton, ten days at 
Cantonment Stevens, eighteen days at Fort Snelling^ eigh- 
teen days at Montreal, and twenty-three days at Quebec. 
Thus you will see that there were more cold days on the 
line of the Great Trunk railroad, and of the roads in Min- 
nesota, than on this northern route. Having compared 
the average winter temperatures, and the number of cold 
days, let us look at the climate in another point of view. 
Take the number of warm days when tlie average temper- 
ature was above the freezing point, and I find that at Fort 
Benton the thermometer was forty-three out of ninety days, 
and at Cantonment Stevens thirty-two out of ninety days 
above the freezing point, against only six days out of ninety 
at Fort Snelling, five days out of ninety at Quebec, eight 
days out of ninety at Montreal, and eighteen days out of 
ninety at Albany — all in the winter of 1853-'54. 

But it may be objected, that the temperature of Fort Ben- 
ton and Cantonment Stevens is not the measure of the 
temperature of the intermediate rocky range through which 
the route passes, and which must be much lower. Fortu- 
nately the party of Lieut. Grover, which has been already 
3 



referred to in connection with the deptli ut'snow, made ob- 
servations of temperature on the route, and it has been 
found b}' careful comparison that the party made the pas- 
sage during the extreme cold weather of that winter, and 
the temperatures observed, therefore, indicate the extremest 
cold of the pass, and not the usual cold. A very intelligent 
young man who accompanied Lieut. Grover to Fort Owen 
returned immediately, and found the weather very mild and 
pleasant in the pass, corresponding to the observed temper- 
atures at Fort Benton and Cantonment Stevens. The mean 
temperature in the pass from January 12th to January 
23d, 12 days, was 10° -^^^J, below zero. At Cantonment Ste- 
vens the mean temperature was 5°. 2, below zero; at Fort 
Benton 7°. 3, below zero. The greatest mean cold of any 
day observed in the pass was 22°, below zero, against 24° 
at Fort Snellins^, and a still lower fio'ure at Pembina. 
That the winter of '53-'54 was unusually cold in the moun- 
tain region of the northern route, is shown in the fact that, 
in the Bitter Root valley, the thermometer never went down 
to zero in the winter of '54-'55, whilst it fell as low as 29° 
below zero in the winter of '53-' 54. The average mean 
temperature of this valley in the winter of 'o3-'54 was 
24°. 90, whereas in '54-'55 it was 30°. 30. The same general 
result, determined by observation, as regards the tempera- 
ture of the pass, would be arrived at by using the formula, 
that every 1,000 feet in altitude would depress the tempera- 
ture three degrees. Now only six miles of the pass is more 
than 5,000 feet above the sea, the greatest altitude being 
but G,044 feet, and the average height of the pass is but 
about 4,000 feet. The pass, considering simply 165 miles 
of the distance, where the altitude exceeds three thousand 
feet, will be only from one to ten degrees colder than Fort 
Benton, and except the six miles above mentioned only 
from one to seven degrees colder. ^ 

Gentlemen, it seems to me that these facts, drawn from 
official records, every one of them entirely reliable, ought 



19 

to settle forever the question which has been raised preju- 
dicial to this route, that it will be obstructed by snow and 
cold weather. So successful has been the great rail- 
road from Moscow to St. Petersburg, that they are now 
pushing railroads in all directions, running them into 
regions truly Siberian, crossing tracts where for three 
months the thermometer never rises above zero, and for 
many days the temperature is lower than the greatest cold 
ever reached in the mountains of the United States. We 
find that Canadian roads are being extended westward 
utterly regardless of those objections, experience having 
shown their futility. I have lived in the snow State of 
Maine, and am. familiar with lumbering operations on 
the Kennebec and the Penobscot, where timber is cut, 
roads are opened, and logs hauled to the streams to have 
them in readiness for the freshets of spring, in snow four 
to six feet deep. We have a body of railroad engineers 
and contractors who have gained their professional and 
practical knowledge in these snow regions, and who know 
that the obstacles which have been apprehended from snow- 
have all disappeared in the light of experience. It is not 
the snow of your mountains in the interior, even if it should 
reach a depth of from six to eight feet, that will be an 
obstruction to the passage of cars, for by raising your road- 
bed and using the plough you can throw it off without diffi- 
culty. The snow comes not in single falls, but in succes- 
sive falls, and there will be no difficulty in keeping the 
track clear. On the seaboard, the snow when followed by 
rain, and the weather suddenly turns cold, freezing the 
sleet to the rail, may and does sometimes furnish an ob- 
struction, that may require days to overcome. If I were 
asked, where I should expect the most difficulty from snow 
in the whole country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I 
should say the first ten miles from the Atlantic ports. I 
cannot say this for the Pacific ports, for there snow is sel- 
dom seen, and when it does fall it disappears in a short 



20 

time. I shall therefore assume that this route is entirely 
practicable so far as regards cold and snow, and will pass 
on to a more detailed view of its characteristics and its re- 
lation to other routes. I will present it as a good route 
for emigrants by the ordinary conveyances of the country. 
The distance from St. Paul's and the western end of Lake 
Superior to the shores of Puget's sound, is in round numbers 
eighteen hundred miles. Will the difficulties which I have 
presented in the waj" of a railroad, interfere with the carry- 
ing of the mails and the transportation of passengers the 
entire year on this route? I think not. I think that 
not only ought the mails to be carried over this route the 
entire year, but in a limited number of days. The service 
ought to be rendered on this road in wagons in eighteen 
days, which would be only one hundred miles a day. 
Russia, in the matter of her enterprises for carrying the 
mails, is ahead of any other Power in the world, and she 
can give us lessons, that it will be well for us to profit by. 
Our consul at tlie Amoor, Mr. Collins, has given us the 
facts of the great postal service of Russia from Moscow to 
Irkoutsk, in eastern Siberia. The distance is not eighteen 
hundred, but three thousand four hundred and twenty-six 
miles. On this route are established two hundred and ten 
stations, with a postmaster and the necessary relays of 
horses at each station. The contractors are obliged to carry 
the mails twice a week, and they are also obliged to trans- 
port passengers over the route at certain rates of travel, to 
wit: at eight miles an hour in winter, six and two-thirds in 
summer, and five and one-third in the fall. The time re- 
quired to carry the mails over the entire route, is from 
twenty-five to thirty days, a distance on the average of from 
one hundred and twelve to one hundred and thirty-seven 
miles per day, while the government couriers go over th 
route in from fifteen to twenty days^ or at an average of from 
1*71 to 228 miles per day. That mail route is between the 52d 
and 58th parallels, crosses considerable mountain chains, 



21 

and the thermometer in winter, ou a large portion of it, is 
habitually below zero. At Moscow, the eastern terminus 
of the route, the average of the thermometer is 15°, and at 
Tobolsk 2° above zero, while at Tomsk it is 2°, and at 
Irkoutsk 1° below zero. The iaverage temperatures for 
January, for the three latter places, were respectively 3*^, 
5°, and 6° below zero. Mr. Collins himself travelled over 
the entire route in winter and early spring, making such 
rates of travel as these. He travelled from Verch-neo-dinsk 
toChetah, 300 miles, in forty-five hours; from Irkoutsk to 
Kyachta, 367 miles, in forty-eight hours. But he mentions 
another fact more significant still. On this distance of 3,426 
miles, between the parallels of 52 and 58, the thermometer 
on a large j)ortion it, through the Avinter, below zero, he 
found five hundred cities, and villages, and towns, showing 
conclusively that the extreme cold presented no difficulty in 
the way of the occupation of the country. This has all 
been done by imperial edicts, acting on a nation of serfs, 
done simply in obedience to the idea of reverence for au- 
thority. What will not the genius and enterprise of freemen 
and citizens do on any of our overland routes, when the 
government comes forward and establishes its mail service, 
when the contractor is not hampered by petty and exact- 
ing restrictions, and our people are left free, each man to 
carve out his lortunes and his home. The Czar of 
Russia establishes his route, and in part builds up his 
towns and villages and cities with his prisoners of State 
and the refuse of his jails, whereas in our case it will be 
the very flower and substance of our people, who will apply 
the energies of freemen and of sovereigns to the building 
up of our routes. I therefore have a right to assume, in 
the light of the experience of the great mail service of Si- 
beria, that there will be no difficulty on our, comparatively 
speaking, much milder and shorter route. 

Let us look, however, to existing routes within the limits 
of the United States. The cold on the route from St, Paul's 



22 

to La Crosse is greater than iu the Rocky mountain region 
of the northern route, and yet from St. Paul's to La Crosse 
the mails will be carried this winter, a distance of nearly two 
hundred miles, in forty-eight hours. For the last twelve 
years, the mails have been carried from St. Paul's to Pem- 
bina, without, in any case, a failure to carry them in the 
prescribed time. 

The pioneers of Minnesota and the Northwest find no diffi- 
culty in encountering the cold and attending to their out- 
door business, and they are satisfied that the mails can be 
carried in that region, and passengers transported as 
rapidly as in the Russian service. 

When we meet such men, admitted to be men of expe- 
rience, integrity, and capacity, and who from unpromising 
and uncertain beginnings have carved out fortune and re- 
putation, let us accept the results of their experience and 
observation, rather than the speculations of the closet and 
the systems of the schools. 

I now come specifically to tlie discussion of this northern 
route, and I will compare it, with all the candor and fair- 
ness I am able, with other proposed routes, and endeavor 
to show, from statistics, how much entitled it is to national 
consideration. 

Railroad lines have frequently been presented by way of 
antagonism to water lines. Now each has its part in the 
economical transportation of passengers and freight; rail- 
roads cannot do away with canals, nor canals with rail- 
roads. We find, that with the extension of our great rail- 
road system, the canal system has also been extended in 
an equal proportion. 

New York has built her great lines of railroads, and she 
has also enlarged her Erie canal. The Canadas have built 
their Great Trunk and Western roads, and now new pro- 
jects are presented for shortening the water communication 
from Lake Huron to the waters of the St. Lawrence. We 
find that the cost of transporting goods on great water 



lines is vastly less per mile, tlian the cost of transporting 
goods on railroad lines. In a large ocean voyage the rate 
is, perhaps, one and a half mills per ton per mile; on a great 
navigable river, or great canal, the amount increases to 
two and a half mills per ton per mile; whereas there is 
no railroad line, huilt at home or abroad, where the cost of 
transportation will be materially less than five mills per 
mile, and it Avill vary, according to the grade of the road, 
from five to twenty-odd mills per mile. Thus you will ob- 
serve, that on the great water lines, the ocean, the Missis- 
sippi, the great lakes and the New York canals, the cost of 
transportation is but a fraction, seldom exceeding one-half, 
and not often one-quarter, the cost on the railroad; and 
hence, even in the case of water lines closed by ice nearly 
half the year, they will carry the heavy and bulky com- 
modities, as grain, coal, and machinery; the railroads car- 
rying the light, perishable and costly articles, where time 
becomes an important element in the cost. If a railroad 
communication be an inseparable connecting-link between 
great water lines, it is entitled to special consideration. 
Such is the proposed railroad on this northern route. It 
connects the navigable waters of the Missouri with the 
navigable waters of the Columbia, and at the head of 
steamboat navigation. It connects Puget's sound and the 
Columbia valley with the head of navigation of the great 
St. Lawrence basin, and with the heads of navigation of 
the Mississippi and the Ked river of the north. It is the 
shortest equated railroad line across the continent, whether 
the" eastern terminus be on the western border of the 
States or on the Mississippi, or, in the case of the northern 
route, on Lake Superior; and it is much the shortest lin- 
eally of all the roads, except those from San Diego and San 
Pedro, on the route of the 32d parallel. 

In connection with either the great lakes and its system 
of canals and rivers, or the great railroad lines of the Can- 
adas and the United States, it furnishes the most direct and 



24 

che'iipest route on the cttntineut ibr freights and pasBen,u,er.s 
from Asia to Euro])e and back again, and also between 
Asia and the people of our Northwest, our West, our centre, 
our East, and the great seats of commerce on the Atlantic 
coast. 

The lineal distances on the route of the 32d parallel 
to the Mississippi are 1,748 and 1,683, against 1,747 and 
l,7fi4, the lineal distances of Vancouver and Seattle from 
8t. Paul's, and against 1,733 and 1,750, the lineal distances 
of Vancouver and Seattle from Superior City; and starting 
from the western border of tlie States, the lineal distances 
on the route of the 32d parallel are 1,598 and 1,533 miles, 
against 1,527 and 1,546 miles, the lineal distances from 
Breckenridge to Vancouver and Seattle. 

The following table is from official reports, wherein I have 
shown the distances on an air-line between the termini of 
the several explored jjracticable railroad lines across the 
continent, the lineal distances, the sums of ascents and 
descents, the equated distances in miles, the estimated cost, 
the extent of cultivable country, the extent of country 
which is less than 1,000 feet above the sea, the extent of 
country which lies between 1,000 and 2,000 feet above 
the sea, the extent of country between 2,000 and 3,000 feet 
above the sea, the extent of country between 3,000 and 
4^000 feet above the sea, the extent of country between 
4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, the extent of country 
between 5,000 and 6,000 feet above the sea, the extent of 
country between C,000, and 9,000 feet above the sea, and 
the summit of the highest pass on each route for the 
routes of the 47th parallel, 42d parallel, 35th parallel, and 
32d parallel. 



25 



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27 

I have assumed as the starting point of the northern 
route, for the purpose of this comparison, Breckenridge, on 
the western border of the State of Minnesota, a point which 
is a terminus of a road now actually under construction by 
aid of the land grants of the government. 

The following table makes the eastern termini at Supe- 
rior City and St. Paul's, and of the other routes, on the 
Mississippi river ; 



28 






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29 

If I am met with the objection that the Arkansas, Missis- 
sippi and Missouri are navigable, and that the routes on 
the 42d, 35th and 32d parallels should be stopped short at 
navigable waters, then, for purposes of comparison, I say 
very well, we will stop the northern road at Fort Benton, 
at the head of steamboat navigation of the Mississippi, 
which will give a result vastly in its favor. I am of 
opinion, however, that the Mississippi valley and the great 
lakes is the proper eastern base. Thus we find — the western 
terminus of the routes of the 42d, 35th and 32d parallels, 
being San Francisco — that the lineal length of the northen 
route is 549 miles shorter than that of the 42d parallel, 616 
miles shorter than that of the 35th parallel, 424 miles shorter 
than that of the 32d parallel; and that, as regards the 
equated distances, the northern line is 689 miles shorter 
than the line of the 42d parallel, 1,121 miles shorter than 
the line of the 35th parallel, and 733 miles shorter than 
the line of the 32d parallel. But, looking to the eastern 
terminus, where are you when you reach the Mississippi on 
the route of the 42d, 35th and 32d parallels? 

You are on a great navigable river, from which you can 
supply the Mississippi valley; but how will you reach 
New York, Chicago, Portland, Boston^ Philadelphia and 
Baltimore ? 

Will you tranship on the Mississippi, and take your 
winding course by the Grulf of Mexico, or take the rail, 
and seek some of the intermediate wg,ter lines which stretch 
along the whole distance ? 

Will you make use of the Ohio, and the railroads and 
canals of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia? On 
the northern route we are on navigable waters; we are 
now ready to enter our ships and go to Europe, or to Ne^ 
York; or, arrived at Montreal, we can pass by rail to Port- 
land. If we compare Chicago as a great lake port with 
Superior City, its distance from Puget's sound on tlie 
northern route via St. Paul's, is 317 miles shorter than its 
distance from Benicia via South pass. 



30 



Tlie lineal distances from Seattle via Northern route, via 
St. Faul's, and from Benicia via South Pass, via Council 
Bluffs, via St. Louis, to these several ports of the Atlantic 
and Gulf coast, will be as follows: 



Portland 

Boston 

Kew York 

Philadelphia 

Baltimore 

Washington. 
Charleston . . . 
Savannah .... 

Mobile 

New Orleans 

Averages.. 



Seattle, via 
St. Paul. 



1,249 
5,352 
,126 
,988 
,966 
,004 
,328 
,313 
,030 
,115 



Benicia, via 

St. Louis. 



3,831 
3,696 
3,546 
3,454 
3,355 
3,375 
3,445 
3,430 
3,147 
3,232 



3,131.1 } 3,453.1 



Differences in 

favor of 
Nor'n route. 



582 
344 
420 
466 
389 
371 
117 
117 
117 
117 



The distance from Benicia to St. Louis is 2,482 miles. 

Thus the average distance from Seattle, via St. Paul's, to 
the principal ports of the Atlantic and gulf, is 316 miles 
less than the average from Benicia via St. Louis to the 
same points. This saving of distance via St. Paul's ranges 
from 117 miles, as in the case of New Orleans, to 582 
miles, as in the case of Portland. If the equated distances 
were used, it would make an additional difference in favor 
of the northern route of 137 miles. Thus every seat of 
commerce on the coast is nearer to Puget's sound by the 
northern route, than to the waters of San Francisco by the 
central route. See Appendix for the lines in detail. 

I am, however, of the opinion that no single line of rail- 
road is the proper American solution of the problem of 
continental communication. 

The northern route should not alone be patronized by 
the government. The mail service now in operation, and 
about to be put in operation, indicates three lines which 



31 

ehould share the patronage of the governraeixt; but these 
few facts as to distances, and the known relations between 
water lines and railroad lines, must show you conclusively 
that on this northern route must pass the great carrying 
trade from Asia to Europe, and from Europe to Asia; that 
on this northern route must pass Asiatic supplies for much 
the largest portion of our own country and the Canadas. 
It is most emphatically a national route; and if we do not 
establish it, the British people and government will estab- 
lish one north of the 49th parallel, and then we shall find 
ourselves in the position of the people, from whose hands 
had passed the sceptre of Judah. 

It will be pertinent in connection with this northern route 
for a Pacific railroad, to refer somewhat in detail to its 
capacity for settlement, I have had the advantage of going 
over the difficult and disputed points of this road three 
times, and have travelled over it at various seasons of the 
year. The last time I crossed the mountain region was in 
the months of November and December, 1855; and I am of 
the opinion, derived from careful, and, I trust, accurate ob- 
servation of the country — that continuous agricultural set- 
tlements can be planted nearly the whole distance along this 
line. If you will follow me on this map, you will perceive 
that the continuous line of settlement will extend to beyond 
James river, in the new Territory of Dacotah. From that 
point to the entrance to the valley of Mouse river, there 
are swales and good land from point to point, sufficient to 
form nuclei for mail stations, at less than fifteen miles apart. 
In this Mouse River valley there is much cultivable land. 
In crossing the Grand Couteau du Missouri, you come to 
an undulating and somewhat broken surface, which fur- 
nishes tolerable grazing; but for fifty miles, not much land 
for settlements. When you come to the Missouri, in the 
vicinity of Big Muddy river, you find a region for settle- 
ments, and a large tract of country admirably adapted to 
all kinds of cereals and vegetables. 



32 

The Milk River valley, through which the route passes, 
has very fine wheat lands, not simply in its ovfu valleys 
and those of its tributary streams, but in the adjacent prai- 
ries. When you reach the Missouri again, you come to 
bottoms of arable land, with groves of Cottonwood, like 
those of Milk river, of large growth, suitable for fires 
and building. The various ti'ibutaries of the Missouri, in 
the vicinity of the head of navigation, furnish large quan- 
tities of arable land. 

The Marias, Teton, Sun, Dearborn, High Wood, Smith's, 
Judith, and other streams are all well adapted to settle- 
ment. 

In the summer of 1854, explorations wer6 made from 
Fort Benton along the eastern base of the Rocky moun- 
tains ; and where you see this summer isothermal line, 
there are rich farming lands. Inspect this line, and you 
will find it sixty degrees above zero ; and there is nothing 
in the summer temperature which will interfere with crops. 
Recollect that there are no chilling blasts from May to Oc- 
tober, to blight the promised harvest ; and here let me 
say, that when Lieut. Mullan passed this Divide (Mullan's 
pass) in March, from Fort Benton, he found no snow in 
the pass or along the route. I will therefore say, in round 
numbers, that from Breckenridge, on the Red river of the 
north, to the Divide of the Rocky mountains, the route 
passes through strictly a cultivable country, capable of con- 
tinuous settlement, except for about 150 miles, in three 
several sections of about equal lengths ; on this portion you 
can plant agricultural settlements, at points sufficient for 
railroad or mail stations. From near the Divide of the Rocky 
mountains, the country is capable of continuous settlement 
to within twenty miles of the Divide of the Bitter Root 
mountains ; the eastern half of the great plain of the Colum- 
bia, the northern and the southern portions, consist of rich 
river valleys and fertile table-lands. A portion of the west- 
ern half will not furnish arable land for continuous settle- 



33 

ments. Between the Columbia and the Cascade inountaius, 
the line is flanked on the south by a large body of fertile 
land, and passes immediately through a fine grass country, 
and for at least half the distance through an excellent culti- 
vable country. From the Cascade mountains to the Sound, 
the line passes through a continuously cultivable country. 
I estimate that the mountain region between the head of 
the Missouri and the great plain of the Columbia, the whole 
intermediate country, admits of continuous cultivation, ex- 
cept about forty miles on the highest part of the Rocky 
mountains, and thirty miles in the highest part of the 
Bitter Root mountains. Look on this map: There is a 
prairie (pointing it out on the map) of 3,000 acres, four to 
eight miles west of the Divide of the Rocky mountains, 
where can be raised wheat and the ordinary vegetables. 

The railroad line could be laid over the great plain 
of the Columbia so as to pass over a continuous cultivable 
country to the Columbia, except for a few miles; but to 
cross north of the mouth of the Snake river, which is de- 
sirable to avoid detour, it will pass over about fifty miles 
of country not adapted to continuous cultivation, and having 
the general characteristics of the western half of the great 
plains already described. I will estimate that tliere are 
fifty miles of uncultivable country between the main Co- 
lumbia and Puget's sound, though it is a large estimate. 
Thus, in the whole distance from Breckenridge to Seattle, 
a distance of 1,544 miles, the route passes through only 
about 320 miles of uncultivable country. East of Breck- 
enridge, to St. Paul's and Lake Superior, the country is 
exceedingly rich, and inviting to the settler. 

In the report of the explorations which I made in 1854, 
I did not do justice to the route. I was over-cautious. 
As I crossed the country, I was astonished to find it so 
difierent from report, and I took great pains to guard 
against speaking of it in terms of extravagance. Especially 
did I do injustice to the country between the Cascades and 



b4 

the Bitter Root, It has yince been more carefully examined 
by myself, and information has been collected from various 
sources. The Indian agents have done much in this way, 
in the discharge of the duty intrusted to them of ascertain- 
ing suitable places for reservations. The agent Bolon, who 
was murdered by the Indians at the commencement of our 
disastrous war in the fall of 1855, had in the previous 
summer carefully examined the country between the Cas- 
cade mountains and the main Columbia, known as the 
Yakima country, and found it much better than he sup- 
posed it to be the previous season, when engaged on duty 
with the exploration, and when he regarded it as a good 
country. It has, imquestionably, a large quantity of 
ffood arable hind, and it is on the railroad line to Pu- 
get's sound. From the Cascade mountains to the Sound, 
the only difficulty in the way of farming will be the im- 
mense forest growth, which covers nearly two-thirds of 
the country. 

I have simply presented these fects to show the cul- 
tivable character of the country. I have presented the 
country as it is on the earth's surface. I do not desire 
to make any invidious comparisons with other routes. I 
am ready to admit that other routes are equal in agricul- 
tural capacity. I wish they were, for it is my opinion that 
the more practicable routes we have, the more and larger 
settlements we plant on them, the more will it help to 
unite our country, and make us the first Power on earth. 

There is another consideration, however, which I shall 
advert to, lest invidious comparisons should be drawn 
against the northern route in favor of more southern routes. 
I refer to the present capabilities of this route — to the agen- 
cies now at work to facilitate settlements, the organization 
of a mail service, find the building of the railroad. 

On this route there are already considerable establishments, 
not simply of horses and cattle, but of farms — not merely at 
Fort Union, nnd Fort Benton, but at other points, wliere 



35 

cattle and horses are found in great numbers. In the Flat- 
head country there are many farms enclosed, and, although 
they have been commenced only a few years, there will be 
the present year a very considerable surplus. At the Jesuit 
mission in the Flathead country, they will manufacture 
300 barrels of flour more than they will consume, nearly 
all the wheat having been raised by the fathers and bro- 
thers of the mission, with the assistance of such Indians as 
^hey could get to work. This flour they have contracted 
to furnish to the forts of the American Fur Company on 
the Missouri, and they will take it over the mountains in 
wagons. The Indians had last year fifty farms, averaging 
five acres each, under cultivation. There are in this region 
two grist, and two saw mills. 

If we pass over the Bitter Root mountains to the Spokane, 
there we find fai'ms, with their fields, and horses, and cattle. 
In the Colville valley, there is now a continuous settlement 
of one hundred and twenty different farms. The Walla- 
Walla valley is also settled to a considerable extent. 

Another thing to be considered in regard to planting set- 
tlements through the country is that seeds, farming utensils, 
and supplies of all kinds, both for settlers and for trav- 
ellers, can be carried by steam to the mouth of the Pa- 
louse, so that in connection with the running of steamers 
on the Missouri to li'ort Benton, supplies need in no 
instance to be wagoned more than two hundred and 
twenty-five miles, which statement shows how well prepared 
we are for any operation, which either the government or 
the citizens of the country, may think proper to undertake. 
In my railroad report of 1854, I gave a scheme, and pre- 
sented a programme for building this road, which proposed 
making use of the waters of the Columbia and Missouri, 
for transporting the workmen, and tools, and materials of 
all kinds, and organizing the work in corresponding divi- 
sions. One would be from Puget's sound and from Van- 
couver to the point where the railroad line crosses the 



Colurabia, another from this point to the head of navigation 
at Fort Benton, a third from Fort Benton to Fort Union, 
another to St. Paul's, and the western end of Lake Supe- 
rior. 

Thus the route can be thrown into four divisions, on each 
of which you can work from both ends, so that eight sec- 
tions may be worked at a time, affording extraordinary 
facilities to hasten the construction of the road. The most 
difficult of these divisions, the one between the Columbia 
and Missouri, could be attacked almost as soon, within two 
or three months, as those lying on the Pacific or great 
lakes. Now, here are railroad men, and they know what 
can be done. Suppose your route is established, a com- 
pany formed, and ample means at hand; the only question 
for consideration will be, what are the engineering difficul- 
ties on the route, and how long, if they are vigorously dealt 
with, will it take you to run the iron horse from Fort 
Benton to the Columbia? It is not necessary to wait till 
the tunnelling is done on the route, as you can adopt, for 
the nonce, the system of zigzags, by which the AUeghanies 
are scaled in Pennsylvania. 

I am satisfied that our railroad men would not feel com- 
plimented, if they were told they could not build such a 
road in four years after the location was made, and every- 
thing in readiness to commence the work. The great diffi- 
culty will be to raise the money, and not to build tlie road 
when the money is raised. Money is the sinew of railroad 
progress, as well as of war. But, sir, an engineer in pre- 
senting his programme considers simply the engineering 
difiiculties. It is for presidents, and directors, and compa- 
nies, to raise the money. 

British Columbia is attracting the attention of this coun- 
try, and of Europe, and of course a movement will be made 
to reach that country by great lines north of our parallel. 
I have been thankful for this for two reasons: One, that 
it redeems the northern route from the reproach of being 



31 

the Siberian trail, and makes it a central route with regard 
to the water line of the great lakes; and also, because I 
think the occupation of that country to the north of us, will 
cause our progress to be accelerated. I desire, from reliable 
statistics, to give some data from which to draw compari- 
sons between our northern route and the routes still further 
north. Before doing this, however, I wish to state in the 
most explicit manner, that in my judgment, there is a vast 
gold region in the northwest portion of our continent. 
Gold is not found simply in British Columbia, but for a 
long distance south of our parallel, and extensive and re- 
munerative diggings have been discovered in Washington 
Territory. The gold regionsof Washington extend through 
the Cascade mountains, north of the Columbia, and thence 
eastward along Clark's fork and the Kootenay river, to 
near the Rocky mountains. Geologists have passed over 
the ground, and confirm the reports of the miners, as to the 
presence of gold throughout this vast region. We have 
the evidence of officers of the army and Indian service, and 
of reliable citizens, as to paying localities. In 1855, rich 
paying deposits Avere actually worked on Clark's fork, on 
the tributaries flowing into the Columbia, from both its 
eastern and western shores. In 1855, a great movement 
from Oregon and Washington was directed to those mines. 
A thousand men were on the road, when the Indian war 
broke out, and prevented their generally reaching the 
mines; but through the labors of the fe^ who got to and 
worked the mines in 1855, we became possessed ot the in- 
formation. It is due to American citizens, that America 
and Great Britain became possessed of reliable information 
as to the gold of British Columbia. Had our Indian war 
been brought to a close in 1856, as it would have been, 
if the same uncompromising and stern measures had been 
taken as were taken last summer, the wealth of Wash- 
ington, its gold, its platina, and lead, and silver, and cop- 
per, and quicksilver, would have been known to the world. 



38 

If you will read the most interesting narrative of Dr. Per- 
kins, who came near losing his life amongst the Indians, 
and who prospected on Clark's fork last July and August, 
you Avill see why our people have not hitherto been able to 
work the mines, rich though they be. 

The reverend Father De Smet^ who went through Oregon 
as a missionary of the Christian faith, who is reverenced by 
Indians and by the white man, has, in his book, shown 
how rich the country is in mineral wealth. In conversa- 
tion with his friends, he has dwelt particularly on the rich- 
ness of its mines in gold. You are familiar with the char- 
acter, experience, and great attainments of these Jesuit 
fathers, and know that reliance can be placed on their 
statements, in reference to the capabilities and resources of a 
country, which they have examined. 

Therefore, in making the comparison between the north- 
ern route and others still further north, looking to the 
gold region, I wish you to bear in mind tliat tlie northern 
line leads you directly to it, as well as the lines north of the 
49tli parallel. 

The distance from St. Paul's, via the northern route, to 
Colville, is 1,572 miles; and thence to the forks of Frazer's 
and Thompson's rivers is 290 miles more, making 1,862 
altogether. 

In regard to the land route to the Saskatchawan, from 
St. Paul's via Fort Garry, Fort Edmonton, and the Koo- 
tenay pass to Colville, we have tlie narrative of Sir Geo. 
Simpson, who gives a graphic account of the country and 
the estimated distances. He estimates the distance from 
Fort Garry to Colville to be nearly 2,000 miles, but his 
own more specific statement of time and rates of travelling 
per day, makes it about 1,800 miles. The distance from 
St. Paul's to Fort Garry, is given in a recent report of sur- 
veys of the Red River country, made under the authority of 
the Canadian government, at 558 miles; from Fort Garry 
to Edmonton 1,000 miles; and from Edmonton to Colville 



:}9 

800 miles; making a total of 2,358 miles, against 1,572 by 
the northern route, to Colville. Sir George Simpson, how- 
ever, made Edmonton a point of his route, in consequence 
of its being one of the great trading posts, that he desired 
to visit. A land route can unquestionably be laid two 
hundred miles shorter, by the south branch of the Saskatch- 
awan. To be within limits, we will allow 300 miles for the 
Edmonton detour, which will give 2,058 miles by the 
Kootenay pass, against 1,572 miles by the northern route. 
If your object, however, is to reach the waters of Thomp- 
son's or Frazei'*s river, then you must make Fort Edmon- 
ton a point in your journey. 

The route then is to the Athabasca river, 100 miles by 
land, then up this river 150 miles, which you can ascend 
in boats; but it will probably, to avoid transhipment, be 
better to go by land; thence across the mountains by the 
Athabasca portage 100 miles to the boat encampment on 
the main Columbia — in all 350 miles from Edmonton. 
From the boat encampment, it is about seventy-five miles to 
the headwaters of Thompson's river, and one hundred and 
twenty-five miles to the headwaters of Frazer's river by 
the canoe tributary of the Columbia. 

Thus, from St. Paul's to the headwaters of Thompson's 
river, the distance will be by land 1,983 miles, and to the 
headwaters of Frazer's river 2,033 miles. But your are 
on the waters of rivers unfit for navigation; for, from care- 
ful examination of narratives, I find that Thompson's river 
is never used, and Frazer's river rarely. 

It is only the lower portion of Frazer's river that can be 
used for a distance of one hundred and twenty miles. 

From the head of Thompson's river to its junction with 
Frazer's river, known as the Forks, the distance is 200 
miles, and from the headwaters of Frazer's river to the 
same point, 450 miles; thus making the entire distance to 
the forks of Frazer's and Thompson's rivers, 2,183 or 2,483 
miles, according as you follow down Thompson's or Fra- 
zer's river. 



40 

Kow let us examine the Kuutenay, and Athabasca passes, 
and compare them with the passes on the northern route. 

On the i^asses of the mountain range, in the vicinity of 
the Missouri, no snow is to be seen, except during the late 
fall and winter months. In several of the passes, snow 
does not fall to a sufficient depth to seriously interfere with 
the travelling of animals. On the northern Little Black- 
foot pass, there was no snow in the latter part of March, 
1854. The height of the Divides of Cadot's and the north- 
ern Little Blackfoot pass is but about 0,000 feet above the 
sea. From Fort Benton by Cadot's pass to the Pacific, but 
six miles of the country is 5,000 or more feet above the sea, 
and but fifty-one miles is between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. 
Pack-animals can cross all these passes and tlirough the 
mountains, making fifty miles per day, and expresses one 
hundred miles per day. I have myself made the former 
rate, and my express men the latter. 

Now, Sir George Simpson states that the Kootenay 
pass is from 7,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea; that it is in 
the neighborhood of towering mountain peaks; that a large 
quantity of snow falls upon the pass, and remains there 
till late in the spring; and that in mid-summer he found 
the way difficult, in consequence of morasses and boggy 
ground. 

As regards the Athabasca portage, Ross Cox estimates its 
height at 11,000 feet above the sea, with Mounts Brown 
and Hooker in the immediate vicinity, 14,000 feet above 
the sea. The pass rises up about 3,000 feet from its western 
base. 

Ross Cox made the ascent in four and a half hours in 
June, where he found a wilderness of snow eight feet deep, 
and Franchere found five feet of snow on the 16th of May, 
and was two to three hours making the ascent. Alexander 
Ross found eight feet of snow, and was eight hours making 
the ascent. The difficult and snowy character of the pass 
is also well described by De Smet, and the narratives of De 



41 

Smet, Ross Cox, Alexander Ross, and Fi'anchere, subslau- 
tially agree. 

You thus see that the route to the forks of Frazer's and 
Thompson's rivers, by the Athabasca portage, is not only 
a much longer route than that by the passes of the forty- 
seventh parallel, and Fort Colville, but is one which is ob- 
structed by snows in the winter and spring months. 

At the headwaters of the Columbia, and the Saskatcha- 
wan, the mountains, whose crests were bowed down to the 
Missouri and Clark's tributary of the Columbia, have risen 
up again, presenting almost a wall to the transit of the 
emigrant wagon or the railroad car, I do not call in 
question the importance of these routes of the Saskatcha- 
wan for the development of the Saskatchawan country and 
British Columbia, and they may be good routes for emi- 
grants from the lower Red river colony. With the exten- 
sion of settlements from Canada west to Red river, and 
thence up the Saskatchawan, the routes must be opened, 
whatever difficulties bo in the way, as they are necessary 
to the development of the country. 

Now let us examine, somewhat as a practical question, 
these great water lines of the Missouri and the Columbia. 
In the first place, our lines are organized and instinct with 
life and steamers. For twent3^-five years steamers have 
ascended to Fort Union, and many have gone up to points 
nearly half-way to Fort Benton. It may be regarded as an 
organized line, from the moment facilities for passengers 
are at hand at Fort Benton, to make the overland trip to the 
Columbia. There is therefore on this route, but 450 miles 
of land transportation between waters navigable by steam- 
ers. Now steamers have never run on the Red river of the 
north, Lake Winnipeg, or the two branches of the Sas- 
katchawan, and time is required to organize the service. 

There is at the mouth of the Saskatchawan a great rapid, 
which will require a portage. The accounts are conflicting 
whether you can get sufficient deptli of water on the two 



42 

branches of the Saskatchawan, aud navigate them with 
steamers, when the river is unobstructed by ice. Sir George 
Simpson speaks of having gone down fi'om Edmonton to 
Lake AVinnipeg in May, in a perfectly liglit boat, and that 
he was frequently obliged to get out of the boat to haul it 
over shoal water. He stated before the select committee of 
the British Parliament that the longest reach of navigable 
waters was fifty or sixty miles, and that to make continu- 
ous steamboat navigation on either branch, it would be 
necessary to resort to canals around the rapids. 

Alexander Ross, however, went down the northern 
branch of the Saskatchawan, making no portage except at 
the great rapids. I will, for the purpose of this com- 
parison, take it for granted that you can run with steamers 
to Edmonton during the season that the river is not ob- 
structed by ice, but here is a great point of difference. 
The Missouri river is open for more than seven months in 
the year, and the portion of the river from Fort Benton to 
Fort Union is open nearly eight months. 

Go westward from the Mississippi and the climate be- 
comes milder, and the coldest portion of the Missouri, the 
portion in the vicinity of Forts Pierre, Clark, and Randall, 
is never closed exceeding five months. This cold part of 
the river opens in the month of April, whereas by referring 
to the journals and narratives of gentlemen in the employ- 
ment of the Hudson's Bay Company, you find that Lake 
Winnipeg is sometimes not free from ice till June. A 
through connection by the British system of waters, is pre- 
vented by ice seven months in the year. Thus, the Missouri 
is a navigable line for seven months, and Lake Winnipeg 
and the Saskatchawan for only five months — a fact most sig- 
nificant in regard to the facilities of the two lines in the 
matter of an overland emigration and transportation, where 
the distance at best is long, and where an additional month 
or two in the length of the season, is a matter of great con- 
sequence. The lollowing table will give in detail the dis- 



43 

tances from the St. Paul's by the British water lines, to the 
head of Thompson's and Eraser's rivers, to the forks of 
tlie same, and to the mouth of Fraser's river. 

St. Paul, via Brechenridge, Red river, Fort Garry, Lake 
Winnipeg, the northei^n hranch of the Saskatchaioan, 
Edmonton, and Athabasca portage, to headwaters of 
Tliompson's river, of Frazer' s river. Forks of Thomi:)son' s 
and Frazer' s rivers, hy the line of each river, and mouth 
of Frazer' s river hy the line of each river. 

St. Paul's to Breckenridge 210 by land. 

Breckenridge to Fort Garry 41 4 by water. 

Fort Garry to entrance to Lake Winnipeg... 36 " 

Entrance of Lake Winnipeg to mouth of 

Saskatchawan 260 " 

Mouth of Saskatchawan to Edmonton 900 " 

Edmonton to Rocky Mountain House, on 

the Athabasca 100 by land. 

Up the Athabasca ISObywater. 

Thence to Boat Encampment 100 by land . 

St. Paul's to Boat Encampment 2,170 

Thence to headwaters of Thompson's river Vo '' 

Or thence to headwaters of Frazer's river... 125 " 

Thence from head of Thompson's river to 
forks of Thompson's and Frazer's rivers, 

by Thompson's river route 200 " 

Or thence from head of Frazer's river, forks 
of Thompson's and Frazer's rivers, by 

Frazer's river route 450 " 

And thence from forks to mouth of Frazer's 

river, 120 by water, 50 by land 170 " 

Or from Boat Encampment to Colville 450 by water. 

Thus, starting from St. Paul's, to reach the head of Frazer's 
river, you have535 miles of land carriage. To reach the forks 
of Frazer's and Thompson's rivers, by the Frazer's river 
route, 985 miles of land carriage, and 1,760 miles M^alev 



44 

transportation. To reach the liuad of Thompson "s river, you 
have 485 miles of land carriage, and 1,760 miles of water 
transportation; and to reach tlie forks, by the Tliompson's 
river route, 685 miles of land carriage, and 1,7Q0 miles of 
water transportation . To the mouth of Frazer's river, "by the 
route of Thompson's river, the distance by land is 735 
miles, and by water 1,880 miles; and by Frazer's river the 
distance by land, is 1,035 miles, and by water, 1,880 miles; 
or on these same water lines, to i-cach Colville, the distance 
down the main Columbia from the Boat Encampment to 
that point being 450 miles, the entire distance will be, by 
water 2,210 miles, and by land 410 miles. 

Now, to reach Colville, or the forks of Frazers river, 
from Fort Benton, you have 480 miles of land transporta- 
tion in the one case, and 770 in the other. 

I wish now to make some comparison of the line of the 
Missouri, and the Columbia, by the northern passes, and 
the line of the Missouri, and the Columbia, by the South 
pass. This question of land or water transportation, is one 
of exceeding consequence, looking to the interests of the 
population of the States and Territories bordering on the 
Missouri river. 

The following tables give the distances by the northern 
route, and the route by the South pass to Walla- Walla, Van- 
couver, Colville, Seattle on Puget's sound, and forks of 
Frazer's and Thompson's rivers: 

St. Louis via Missouri and pass of 47 th parallel to Van- 
couver. 

St. Louis to Fort Benton 2,415 miles by water. 

Fort Benton to mouth of Palouse .. 450 " by land. 
Mouth of Palouse to old Fort Walla- 
Walla 81^'' by water. 

Old Fort Walla- Walla to Vancouver 210 " by water. 

Of wliich 450 miles by land and 

:^7(H; by water— in all 3,1564 •' 



45 

St. Louis via South pass to Vancouver. 

Distance up Missouri to St. Joseph 480 by water. 

St. Joseph, by South pass, to okl Fort 

Walla- Walla 1,755 by land. 

Old Fort Walla- Walla to Vancouver 210 by water . 

Griving an aggregate of 690 miles by water and 1,755 
miles by land — in all 2,445. 

St. Louis by Northern pass to Colville, and forks of Thomp- 
son's and Frazer's rivers. 

St. Louis to Fort Benton 2,415 by water. 

Fort Benton to Colville 480 by land. 

Thence to Forks 290 " 

Making an aggregate of 2,895 miles to Colville, and 3,285 
miles to forks of Thompson's and Frazer's rivers; of which 
only 480 miles are by land to the first point, and 790 to 
the second point. 

St. Louis by South pas-s to GolviUe, and forks of Thomp- 
son's and Frazer's rivers. 

St. Louis to St. Joseph 480 miles. 

St. Joseph to New Fort Walla- Walla 1 ,730 " 

New Fort Walla- Walla to Colville 180 " 

Colville to forks Thompson's and Frazer's 

rivers 200 •' 

or 480 miles by water, and 2,200 by land. 

St. Louis by Northern pass to Seattle. 

St. Louis to Fort Benton 2,415 miles. 

Fort Benton to Seattle 720 " 

St. Louis by South pass to Seattle. 

St. Louis to St. Joseph 480 miles. 

St. Joseph to old Fort Walla- Walla 1 ,755 " 

Old Fort Walla-Walla to Seattle 240 '' 

or 480 miles by water, and 1,999 by land. 

But it is practicable to follow the route of Clark's fork to 
Colville, and make use of a reach of its navigable waters. 



4f; 

The river from Horse Plain to below the Pend d' Oreille 
lake, is navigable by boats and steamers. 

Kecollect that here vce have those rich gold mines to 
which I have referred. 

The distances from Fort Benton to Colvillc, by tlic route 
of Clark's fork, are as follows: 
Fort Benton to Horse Plain, by cut- 
off from Blackfoot valley to the 

Jocko tributary of Clark's fork... 270^ miles by land. 
Thence down Clark's fork to old 

Pend d' Oreille mission 195 " by water. 

Thence by land to Colville 60 " by land. 

or 330^ miles by land, and 195 by water. 

Steamers drawing from twenty to twenty-four inches of 
water, can run on a reach of eighty miles of this distance 
in low water, and a mucli longer portion of it in high 
water. There are two short portages on the remaining 
portion of the distance at low water. 

I have probably gone into this question of comparative 
distances at this time with sufficient detail. 

I wish now to make a few remarks as to the practicability 
of railroad routes north of the 49th parallel. 

If you will look at the map, you will see that Seattle is 
the easternmost point, of all the harbors of that system of 
waters in American and British territory on the northwest, 
Avhicli have an entrance to the ocean by the Straits of San 
Juan de Fuca; that north of Seattle the coast tends some- 
what rapidly westward; so that, assuming either St. Paul's 
or the western end of Lake Superior as the eastern ter- 
minus, the air-line to any harbor north of Seattle will be 
longer than an air-line to Seattle. It is obvious also from 
the inspection of the map, that to reach the base of the 
Rocky mountains, the course must be longer than to reach 
the base of the mountain by the route of the forty-seventh 
parallel, for the air-lines are longer, and it is not possible, 
from the course- of the streams, that there is less deflection 
from a straight line. The very first link from St. Paul's to 



Pembina gives a greater northern deflection Irom the course 
til an any by the northern route. 

The air-line distances from the base of the mountains, in 
the neighborhood of the Saskatchawan, to any part of 
British Columbia, will be longer than those from the base 
of the Eocky mountains, in the forty-seventh and forty- 
eighth parallels, to Seattle. 

The following table gives the air-line distances from Su- 
perior City and St. Paul's to Seattle, on Puget's sound, Van- 
couver, on the Columbia river. Fort Benton and Pembina ; 
fromFortBenton, toSeattle and Vancouver; from Edmonton 
to Pembina, and the mouths of Frazer's and Salmon rivers, 
in British Columbia, Salmon river was struck by Sir 
Alexander McKensie, in his trip to the Pacific, in 1793: 





Seattle. 


Van- 
couver. 


Fort 
Benton. 


Pembina. 


Mo. of 
FrazerR. 


Mo. of 
Salmon R. 


Superior City. 

St. Paul's 

Fort Benton.. 
Edmonton 


1,412 

1,403 

545 


1,455 
1,435 

592 


867 
859 


276 
339 

767 


540 
1,176 


646 


Pembina 








1,377 













From which we deduce the following facts: The air-line 
distance from Superior City to Fort Benton, is 867 miles, 
against 1,043 miles from Superior City, via Pembina, to 
Edmonton ; from St. Paul to Fort Benton 859 miles, against 
1,106 from St. Paul, via Pembina, to Edmonton; and that 
the air-line distances from Fort Benton, to Seattle and Van- 
couver are respectively 545 and 592, against 540 and 646 — 
the air-line distances from Edmonton to the mouths of 
Frazer's, and Salmon rivers. The air-line distances from 
Superior City and St. Paul's, via Fort Benton, to Seattle, are 
1,412 and 1,404 miles, against 1,646 and 1,752 miles — the 
air-line distances from St. Paul's, via Pembina and Edmon- 
ton, to the mouths of Frazer's and Salmon rivers, and against 



48 

1,58L), ami 1,(»8'.) miles, the air-liiic (listaiic(\s Irom Su|K'ri(n- 
City, via Pembina and Edmonton, to tlio mouths ofFrazer's, 
and Salmon rivers. 

Tlais, the air-lino distances from St, Paul's and Superior 
City to the Pacific, are from 171 to 348 miles shorter hy 
the route of the 47th parallel, tlian hy tlio routes through 
Britisli Columbia and the Saskatchawan. 

Consider the course of the rivers on the route of tlie 
Ibrty-seventh and forty-eighth ])arallels. Look at the 
Missouri and Clark's fork, look at the general course of the 
Spokane, Bitter Pioot, and St. Piegis de Borgia rivers, and 
see how, by careful exploration, a nearly due east and west 
connection has been made, between the Flathead country 
and the great plain of the Columbia. This interior plain 
enables us to lay a comparatively straight line across it. 
from the mountain region of the Bitter Boot, to the Cascade 
mountains. Can it be so in British ColumV)ia'? The 
streams run nearly north and south, and are sejiarated by 
high mountain spurs. If use is made of the Kootenay 
])ass, then the route must either go south of the 4'Jth 
parallel, or it must cross the dividing ridge between the 
Kootenay and the main Columbia, giving one more chain 
to cross than the route by the Athabasca portage 

It is not possible that a course can be laid across the 
streams and dividing ridges from the base of the monn- 
tain passes north of the 4'Jth imrallel, which, starting from 
Lake Superior and St. Paul's, will not be several hundred 
miles longer than the northern route. These are obvious 
and natural inferences, drawn from what we know of the 
geography of the country. We cannot speak positively as 
to what pass the British route will cross. I understand 
that Col. Paliser, in the service of the British govern- 
ment, crossed the Kootenay pass the last summer on his 
way to the Pacific, charged with an exploration of the 
country. 

The followins: table o-ives the sailinLT distances from the 



49 



principal ports of Asiu to tliose of our western coast; from 
which it will he seen, that Seattle's average distance from 
the ports of Asia is twenty-five miles less than Vancouver's, 
sixty-three miles less than San Francisco, 368 miles less 
than San Diego, and sixty-five miles less than Mazatlan. 
As regards the four ports, the mouth of the Amoor, Shang- 
hae. Canton, and Calcutta, the average distances are re- 
spectively 54, 206, 532, 1,212 miles less than to the 
other ports. 





m 

o 


To Vancouver, 
miles — 


o 

i « 


a J. 

Is 


To Mazatlan, 
miles — 


From Amoor 


3,850 
5,140 
5,900 
8,730 
7,280 
2,380 


3,895 
5,215 
5,975 
8,805 
7,205 
2,305 


4,110 
5,430 
6,140 
8,970 
6,930 
2,050 


4,520 
5,830 
6,550 
9,380 
6,990 
2,190 


5 390 


From Shanghae 

From Canton 


6,700 
7 380 


From Calcutta 

From Melhourne 

From Sandwich Is... 


10,210 
7,125 

2,835 


Average distances .... 


5,542 


5,567 


5,605 


5,910 


6,607 



If we look to European connections, the following table 
gives the distances from Liverpool, Havre, and Bremen, to 
Halifax, St, John's, Portland, Boston, and New York: 





To 
Halifax. 


To St. 
John's. 


To Port- 
land. 


To 

Boston. 


To New 
York. 


From Liverpool 

' ' Havre 


2,430 
2,540 

3,080 


1,960 

2,070 
2,610 


2,750 
2,860 
3,400 


2,800 
2,910 
3,450 


2,970 
3,080 


'' Bremen 


3,620 







There is a scheme on foot of a railroad communication 
from both Halifax and St. John's to Quebec. The distance 

7 



50 

I'rom Halillix to QiU'lx'c will ]k' OiJ") miles, ami i'rom Mtni- 
treal 803 miles, and i'rom St. John's to Quebec about the 
same distance; making the entire distance by railroad, from 
Western connections, 511 miles shorter to Portland than 
to Halifax and St. John's. This great increase of distance 
cannot compensate for the less ocean distance from the two 
British posts. We thus stand in this strong position; the 
great water-line of the lakes, and its system of canals and 
rivers, has the shortest railroad connections with American 
ports, both on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; making Pu- 
get's Sound the great port for all seasons of the year, and 
Portland the winter port of the Canadas, and the depot for 
the business whicli will pass over the rail at all seasons of 
the year. 

Mr. President, I did not suppose, when I entered upon 
this subject, that I should occupy so much time. There 
are other subjects that I desire much to dwell upon, in 
regard to which I have made a most careful examination. 
Since I accepted the invitation of your committee to address 
your society on the subject of the Northwest, I have en- 
deavored to exliaust all existing information respecting the 
climate of this great region of country. 

I will refer for a single moment to the isothermal lines 
laid down upon this map. 

In constructing this isothermal map, the curves have not 
been reduced to the level of the sea, but have been laid on 
the natural surface of the ground. They have been de- 
duced from the observations of temperature brought down 
to the present time. This method, though not strictly 
correct, will be near enough for practical purposes. The 
rolling character of a country will make it impossible to 
arrive at perfect accuracy in establishing the isothermal 
curves of the natural surface. But it is not probable that 
the error in any case will exceed one degree. 

The altitudes of important points, as the passes of the 
Rocky, Bitter Root, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada mount- 



51 

ains; important key points, as Fort Union, Fort Benton, 
Fort Laramie, Salt Lake, Cantonment Stevens, of" the large 
valleys and prairies, are laid down. 

To construct the isothermal chart reduced to the level of 
the sea, the result of observations at a given point are 
modified by the formula that every one thousand feet in 
altitude is equivalent to a difference of three degrees in 
temperature. Thus an increase of three degrees for every 
thousand feet of altitude will, applied to the several points 
named, furnish data by which the isothermal curves re- 
duced to the level of the sea can be constructed. 

Let me call your attention to the remarkable fact, that 
as you go westward from the Mississippi the climate rapidly 
becomes milder; that though the Missouri river takes a 
great course northward, the mean winter temperature of 
Fort Benton is ten degrees higher than Fort Pierre, though 
the latter is more than 1,000 feet lower, and three degrees 
further south than the former. The climate of the western 
coast, is very similar to that of the western coast of Eu- 
rope. 

Examine, Mr. President, for one moment, that country 
stretching from Wisconsin through Minnesota to the Eed 
river of the North, through which American, and English, 
and Canadian captalists are now projecting great lines of 
railroad communication to reach British Columbia. And 
unless the Congress of the United States can cease its discus- 
sions, and venture upon action, even our people in the North- 
west will, in self-defence, have to join hands with the Cana- 
das, that they may have a passage to the Pacific, even 
though it be on British soil, and cause to grow up a great 
commercial and controlling British port on the west- 
ern coast. These facts are full of significance. They should 
dissipate doubts, and impress us with the importance of 
rising up to the height of this great argument, and wit]i 
faith and steadiness enter upon, and accomplish the work 
of binding together the shores of our screat oceans. 



APPEJS'DIX 



IMic f'olluwing tabic gives the lines in detail, and on sev- 
eral routes, as regards some of the niost importants ports. 
Tlie least distance has been in each case taken. 

SPIORTEST TRAVELLED ROUTES. 
RAILWAY ROUTES. 

Portland, 3Ie., to St. PauVs, Minnesota. 
(Ii'and Trunk Railroad — Portland to Montreal.. 292 miles. 

Montreal to Toronto... 333 

*Toronto to Sarnia 180 

Detroit and Milwaukic Railroad — *Sarnia to 

Grand Haven 280 

Grand Haven steamers — Grand Haven to Mil- 
waukic 75 

La Crosse and Milwaukic Railroad — *Milwaukic 

to St. Paul's 325 

1,485 

Portland to St. Louis. 

Portland to Montreal 292 

Montreal to Toronto 333 

Toronto t(.) Hamilton 38 

Hamilton to Windsor 186 

Detroit to Lake Station 260 

Lake Station to Joliet 45 

JoliettoSt. Louis 245 

St. Louis to Portland 1,399 

■■'Unfinished. 



53 

Neio York to St. FauVs, via 
Hudson River Railroad — New York to Albany. , 144 miles. 

New York Central — Albany to N. Falls 305 

Great Western Canal — N. Falls to Detroit or 

Windsor 229 

Michigan Central — Detroit to Chicago 284 

Chicago, St. Paul's and F. D. L. Railroad — 

*Chicago to St. Paul's 400 

1,3G2 

Boston to St. Louis, via Chicago. 
As above — Boston to Chicago 1,018 

Chicago and St. Louis — Chicago to St. Louis. . 256 

1,264 

Neiv York to St. Louis, as above 1,208 

Boston to St. PauVs. 

Western Railway — Boston to Albany 200 

As above — Albany to St. Paul's 1,218 

■ 1,488 

Fhiladelpliia to St. Paul's, via 
Pennsylvania Central — Philadelphia to Pitts- 
burg 353 

Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago — Pittsburg 

to Chicago 471 

Chicago, St. Paul's and F. D. L. — *t!hicago to 

St. Paul's 400 

1,224 

Baltimore to St. Paul's, via 
Northern Central — Baltimore to Harrisburg... 84 
Pennsylvania Central — Harrisburg to Pittsburg. 247 

As above— Pittsburg to St. Paul's 8Y1 

1,202 

Washington to St. Paul's, via 
Baltimore & Ohio — Washington to Baltimore. 38 
Baltimore to St. Paul's... 1,202 

1,240 



54 

Philadelphia to Chicago, as above 824 miles. 

Baltimore to Chicago ' ' 802 

Washington to Chicago '' 840 

Charleston to St. Louis, via 
South Carolina Eailroad and C. — Charleston to 

Chattanooga 446 

Memjjhis and Charleston — Chattanooga to Cor- 
inth 217 

Mobile and Ohio — *Corinth to Cairo 175 

Illinois Central — Cairo to Sandoval 114 

Ohio and Mississippi — Sandoval to St. Louis... 61 

1,013 

Charleston to St. PauVs, via 

As above — Charleston to Cairo 838 

Illinois Central — Cairo to Dunlieth 451 

Mississippi River — Dunlieth to St. Paul's 275 

1,564 

Neio York to St. Louis via Dunkirk and Indianapolis. 

New York and Erie Railroad — New York to 
Dunkirk 469 

Lake Shore — Dimkirk to Cleveland 143 

Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — Cleveland 
Crest li ne 67 

Indiana and Bellefontaino — Crest line to In- 
dianapolis 20() 

Torre Haute and Richmond — Indianapolis to 
Terre Haute 73 

Terre Haute and St. Louis — Terre Haute to St. 
Louis 183 

1,141 

Netu York to St. Louis via Philadelphia. 

New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Com- 
pany — New York to Philadelphia 93 

Pennsylvania Central — Philadelphia to Pitts- 
burg 353 



00 



Cleveland and Pittsburg— -Fitisl.urg to Wiifel- 

ing 98 inile.s. 

Central Ohio — Wheeling to Columbus 141 

Columbus and Xenia — Columbus to Xenia.... 55 

Indiana Central — Xenia to Indianapolis 124 

As above — Indianapolis to St. Louis 256 

1,115 

Philadelphia to St. Louis, afs above ] ,022 

New York to St. Louis via Baltimore and Ohio, 3Iarietta. 
and Cincinnati, and Ohio and, Mississippi Railroad. 

As above — New York to Philadelphia 93 

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore — 

Philadelphia to Baltimore 98 

Baltimore and Ohio — Baltimore to Marietta... 383 
Ohio and Mississippi— Cincinnati to St. Louis, 340 

1,114 

Baltimore to St. Louis, as above 923 

Washington '' " 943 

Savannah to St. Louis, via 
Georgia Railroad — Savannah to Chattanooga.. 431 
As above — Chattanooga to St. Louis 567 

998 

Savannah to St, Paul's, as before 1,549 

Savannah to Chicago " 1,178 

Charleston to Chicago " 1,193 

Mobile to Chicago, via 

Mobile and Ohio— *Mobile to Cairo 540 

Cairo to Chicago 355 

895 

Mobile to St. Louis, as before 715 

Mobile to St. Paul, via 

Mobile and Ohio— *Mobile to Cairo 540 

Illinois Central — Cairo to Dunlieth 451 

Mississippi river— Dunlieth to St. Paul's 275 

1,266 



NeiD Orleutus fu ^f. Loais, v'ni 
N. O. 1. andU. N. MLss. C. and M. 0. K. R.— 

*New Orleans to Cairo 625 miles. 

As above — Cairo to St. Louis l75 

800 

New Orleans to Chicago, as above 980 

New Orleans to St. Panrs, as above 1,351 



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